Lung Cancer Among Women in the United States.

November marks Lung Cancer Awareness Month, and reminds us that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. In this brief report, we highlight CDC resources that can be used to examine the most recent data on lung cancer incidence, survival, prevalence, and mortality among women. Using the U.S. Cancer Statistics Data Visualizations tool, we report that in 2015, 104,992 new cases of lung cancer and 70,073 lung cancer deaths were reported among women in the United States. The 5-year relative survival among females diagnosed with lung cancer was 22%, and as of 2015, ∼185,759 women were living with a lung cancer diagnosis. We also describe ways CDC works to collect and disseminate quality cancer surveillance data, prevent initiation of tobacco use, promote cessation, eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke, identify and eliminate disparities, promote lung cancer screening, and help cancer survivors live longer by improving health outcomes.

Invasive cancer incidence and survival--United States, 2011.

Because of improvements in early detection and treatment of cancer, the proportion of persons with cancer who survive ≥5 years after diagnosis has increased. To assess progress toward achieving Healthy People 2020 objectives,* CDC analyzed data from U.S. Cancer Statistics (USCS) for 2011, the most recent data available. USCS includes incidence and survival data from CDC's National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program and mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System. In 2011, a total of 1,532,066 invasive cancers were reported to cancer registries in the United States (excluding Nevada), for an annual incidence rate of 451 cases per 100,000 persons. Cancer incidence rates were higher among males (508) than females (410), highest among black persons (458), and ranged by state, from 374 to 509 per 100,000 persons (339 in Puerto Rico). The proportion of persons with cancer who survived ≥5 years after diagnosis was 65% and was similar among males (65%) and females (65%) but lower among black persons (60%) compared with white persons (65%). Surveillance of cancer incidence and survival are essential for identifying population groups with high cancer incidence rates and low cancer survival rates as well as for estimating the number of cancer survivors, which was 13.7 million in 2012. These data are being used by states to effectively develop comprehensive cancer control programs, including supporting the needs of cancer survivors.